Phone is black instrument mounted on the wall. It has a curly wire that connects the handset to the telephone proper. The telephone has a twisty-turnney thing that is used to dial numbers.
LION does not see how this could operate locomotive. I do not even know the phone number of my locomotives. i did not even know that they had phone numbers.
[LION looks around train room]...
Hey, LION does not even have a conventional power pack on his layout. Him wonders what he is missing.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
If you are talking about using a smartphone or a tablet to run trains I can walk you though what you need.
First off, it works off of a direct link between a computer and your phone, so no matter what DCC system you have you will need a computer, a wifi connection, and a smartphone/tablet.
The program to set this up is FREE, it is called JMRI:
http://jmri.sourceforge.net/
The app for apple is called WiTrottle, on android it is called Engine driver.
Now all you need to do is connect your DCC system to the computer, they have a good overview here:
http://jmri.sourceforge.net/help/en/html/hardware/loconet/Digitrax.shtml#Setup
I recommend the PR3, because it can be used as a stand alone programming unit using JMRI to program decoders.
Chris.
Check out my railroad at: Buffalo and Southwestern
Photos at:Flicker account
YouTube:StellarMRR YouTube account
I'll second Chris's advice.
I use the JMRI / PR3 / Engine Driver combination with my Super Chief and a couple of small (4.3 inch) Android tablets as throttles and it works great. The rocker-type volume control on the side of the tablet controls the speed, so you don't have to constantly look at the screen to find and adjust the slider.
I'm also in the process of setting up a JMRI virtual control panel for my yard, that will be displayed on a larger (7 inch) Android tablet. Touch a yard track to align all the turnouts for that track, or touch an individual turnout to throw just that one.
I'm hoping you can use an iPod touch as well.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
NIKOLAIYes i was meanig a smartphone or a tablet
SpaceMouse I'm hoping you can use an iPod touch as well.
Yes and yes, as long as your iOS or Android device has WiFi, and the computer running JMRI with the connection to your layout also has WiFi.
A connection to the Internet is not required, and if you're using an iPhone or Android phone (rather than a tablet) it doesn't need to have cellular service.
My son and a few of his friends have set there's up. We use a loco buffer to tie computer and LAN. Anyway, the response time is not as good as a regular wireless throttle--only issue really. But the price is right--lol.
Richard
BroadwayLion Phone is black instrument mounted on the wall. It has a curly wire that connects the handset to the telephone proper. The telephone has a twisty-turnney thing that is used to dial numbers. LION does not see how this could operate locomotive. I do not even know the phone number of my locomotives. i did not even know that they had phone numbers. [LION looks around train room]... Hey, LION does not even have a conventional power pack on his layout. Him wonders what he is missing. ROAR
Since Doughless is dough-less, Doughless does not spend dough on new phones. Doughless's only portable phone is a flip-phone built only for talking since it still works.
Hey, this is kind of fun.
- Douglas
Joe Staten Island West
joe323Old black phone used to last forever until some genius came up with the idea of making phones disposable.
It wasn't my intention to help steer the thread towards a conversation about phones.
I was mane-ly clawing for a way to piggyback Lion's method of telling his tails about his situation, and re-furred to my own.
Oh no...this is getting addicting.
If I said I wasn't laughing, I'd be Lion.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker If I said I wasn't laughing, I'd be Lion. --Randy
Back on topic though :)Once you link your model railroad to a computer, the possibilities become near limitless!!
Dave Loman
My site: The Rusty Spike
"It's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your 2 cents in.... hey, someone's making a penny!"
Speaking of apps, are there any available for a Nokia or tablet with Windows 8?
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
Lehigh Valley 2089 Speaking of apps, are there any available for a Nokia or tablet with Windows 8?
I'm not sure if the phone or tablet versions of Win8 can run Java like the desktop version does, but if so, you should be able to run JMRI directly on the device.
But you'd still need a "Win8 device" to layout connection.
The easiest way would probably be to network the copy of JMRI on your device to another copy of JMRI on a "traditional" computer that is connected to your DCC system.
Now just switch over from your throttle app to skype on your smart phone and raise the dispatcher to give you some clear signals
Chris
LION tried phone-throttle. Not good at all. The operator comes on and says: "Please deposit 40c for the next three minutes."
LION got rid of that throttle in a hurry.